"Oh, it's all luck!"
Feng Ji was no longer the stern-faced antique shop owner he always was; he was practically grinning from ear to ear.
"Xiao Fu, is this fish expensive?"
Fu Wan handed the hand-copied net to Boss Fu, and nodded in response to Feng Ji's question.
"Expensive, extremely expensive. The fish I brought up in the newspaper last time was this kind!"
Upon hearing this, Feng Ji was even happier.
"Then I'll have to be in the newspaper too?" he muttered, then shook his head. "No way, I don't like being in the limelight. Oh, it's a pity there's no photo studio here. I want a picture too, so I can show it to my old folks later!"
"Why do I need a photo studio? I have a camera at home!"
Fu Wan casually said, "If you don't mind, I'll take the photos for you when we get back, and then I'll develop them and send them to you!"
"That would be perfect!"
Feng Ji was immediately delighted. He took the photo, printed seventy, eighty, or ninety copies, sent two to Master Ning in Beijing, two to the old man in Sichuan Province, and sent them all to other inland people with stamps, so that they could all see the world!
Oh right, since old man Ning San can't see, he still needs to write a letter detailing his experiences at sea today, and have someone read it to him.
Thinking of Ning San's jealous expression, which would make him unrecognizable, Feng Ji couldn't help but chuckle.
This grouper was very active, and soon it was jumping around again. Boss Fu carefully removed the fishhook from the fish's mouth, and Ye Xiaocui quickly went to find a larger basin.
Fu Wan filled the container with some seawater, and then Boss Fu put the grouper inside.
"Luckily we got back soon, otherwise we would have had to keep the fish in the live water tank."
Watching the fish's gills opening and closing, Boss Fu sighed in amazement.
Village Chief Fu nodded in agreement. Their location was only a few kilometers away from the dock, and they had just put the East Star Grouper away when their boat began to slowly approach the dock.
"Hey, why is Old Master Fu's boat back already? Didn't it just leave not long ago?"
There were also many villagers at the dock who were preparing to go out to sea. They looked at Old Fu's new boat with some puzzlement.
"Yeah, I haven't even gone out to sea yet, how come they're back already? It's not even dark yet!"
Although Old Li knew the truth, he didn't have time to explain. He hurriedly took the chain that Boss Fu threw out and prepared to help the boat dock.
Seeing this, Fu Shi, who was standing nearby, also rushed over to help.
"Uncle, I'm strong, I'll do it!"
Fu Shi basically spends the whole day at the dock. Sometimes the dock needs people to unload cargo, and he goes to help.
He could earn 50 cents for unloading a ship's cargo, and sometimes he could earn one or two dollars a day.
Of course, there were also those who didn't need help. He would stand guard at the dock, and once someone wanted to sell their fish, he would help carry it onto a cart and push it to Fu San's house.
After all, Fu San was busy, sometimes having to go to the county or town, and didn't have time to stay at the dock all day.
Of course, of all the bosses, Fu San is the most generous.
"Uncle, Village Chief, you're back!"
Upon hearing Fu Shi's voice, Boss Fu nodded slightly.
"Go and push the cart over here, we have some fish!"
Upon hearing this, Fu Shi quickly fastened the chains, ran to the side, grabbed the cart, and rushed over.
Seeing that Fu Laoda and his group had turned around and were going back to the boat to move things, a few gossipy villagers came over and pulled Fu Wan aside.
"Ah Wan, how come your boat is back so quickly today? In such a short time, it probably hasn't gone very far, has it?"
Fu Wan smiled and explained to everyone, "We didn't go out to sea, we just went for a walk in the nearby waters. The Fisheries Administration Bureau hired an expert for me to work on aquaculture, and I took him to check out the conditions of the waters."
Besides, the village chief is still on my boat; how could I take him that far away!
The women nodded in agreement. Indeed, the old village chief was getting on in years. Going out to sea required him to stay up all night, which was very tiring. At his age, how could he possibly endure it?
However, upon seeing the fish baskets that Boss Fu and his group were carrying, some people in the crowd immediately became puzzled.
"That's not right. If you were really just wandering around here, how could you have caught so many fish?"
"With so little time, even trawling wouldn't be enough!"
They were all kind-hearted aunties, so Fu Wan patiently answered their questions: "We didn't bring any trawling nets. We didn't bring any."
It was pure luck that we ran into a school of mackerel. My dad and the others brought a hand net, otherwise, none of us would have been able to sleep tonight!
Upon hearing this, everyone could only feel envy.
Even a small mosquito is still meat, and even cheap mackerel can earn you some profit!
"Ah Wan, your family's boat is amazing. It's its first time out to sea, and we've already spotted schools of fish just by sailing around the area."
If we ever go to the deep sea, we're guaranteed to go bankrupt!
Who doesn't like to hear nice words? Fu Wan immediately replied with a smile, "Then I'll take it seriously. If the warehouse overflows later, I'll treat you to fish!"
These words made the auntie beam with joy. Although everyone was a fisherman, they couldn't bear to eat the valuable fish; they all sold them to make money.
They knew from Fu Wan's previous fish deliveries at the dock that the fish she delivered weren't cheap either.
The group chatted and laughed, their eyes never leaving Boss Fu and his men who were coming and going.
So when Fu Shi and Boss Fu carried out the basin containing the East Star Spot, the crowd instantly erupted in excitement.
"Holy crap, what is this?! Such a huge grouper, and it's alive?!"
"This must be a real Eastern Star Grouper, God, let me touch it!"
The aunties who had been standing in front were quickly pushed aside by the uncles behind them. They were also fishermen, and they knew that live grouper were not easy to catch with trawl nets or anything like that; they were more likely to have caught one by fishing.
Fu Shi was terrified to be surrounded by so many people, and immediately protected the basin, fearing that someone would capture Dongxingban.
Boss Fu quickly pushed these grown men away.
"Everyone, make way! Even if you want to see it, you have to let us put the fish down first!"
"Doggy, tell me quickly, did you catch this fish? Where did you catch it? What bait did you use?"
"Yes, yes, we're all from the same village, you can't keep anything from us, tell us quickly!"
Fu Laoda had no choice but to betray Feng Ji, who had just disembarked.
"I didn't catch it, that guy caught it!"
Feng Ji was arguing with Jiang Wanghai when he turned around and saw a group of villagers staring at him with fervent expressions.
"What...what are you doing!"
Fu Wan righted the cart and reminded him with a smile, "Uncle Feng, all my uncles like fishing. They saw this grouper you caught and wanted to learn from you!"
"Yes, comrade, tell me quickly, what kind of fishing rod and bait did you use?"
Tell us quickly, if you catch a fish, we'll treat you to dinner!
Feng Ji was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this, "The fishing rod belongs to Xiao Fu's family, and the bait was also prepared by Xiao Fu."
This was my first time fishing, and I guess I just got lucky!
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